The Last Five Millennium: The Fall of Atlantis
by fakescorpion
Summary: Chapter4. Why does Jonouchi gamble? Trying his luck? Not really... but maybe for redemption. It wasn't a mistake, just a risk not taken eons ago. Just a game of chance not played.
1. Prologue: Our Names

_disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh or any of its characters._

_Time set from the beginning of the world to the fall of Atlantis.  
No romance-based shippings. Rated T for anxiety/depression and character deaths._

_How Timaeus, Critias, and Helmos came into being; the prosper of the great kingdom of Atlantis and finally its downfall in the great war as the three legendary knights struggled with their bonds of friendship and the emotions that they had thought lost long ago in the cruel tides of time...the heart which would mourn for those that had died and the volition to fight for those still among the living._

"Normal Speech."

-Spiritual Speech.-

_A recount of past memories or "things said in the past"._

* * *

_**The Last Five Millennium: **__**The Fall of Atlantis**_

**Prologue. Our Names**

All was peaceful and the weather was fine. The sky was sunny and cloudless, and a gust of gentle wind caressed the locks of golden threads that fell naturally across a young man's façade. Eyes of deep sapphire blue caught the rays of sunlight as he lifted his head and squinted.

Billions upon billions of colorful air bubbles drifted lazily in the wind, like jewels scattered across the sky. As many burst, more took their places.

The young man somehow found amusement in this line of thought.

After all, where was he anyway if not another colorful air bubble? This was their world, a multi-dimensional space containing one another–soul rooms of animals and plants that belonged to the _other_ world, rooms that were separated yet connected.

He knew the room he currently stayed was one belonged to that of an age old fern tree as he had always enjoyed that peaceful nature most plants seemed to have. Though it's not like he didn't enjoy excitement or..._fun_, but they were luxuries he wasn't allow to have. And the most he could hope for was the few stories that were brought to him once every couple of centuries.

But at least he had them now...as he remembered what was it like in the very beginning.

Memories that still haunted him now.

Yami.

Unlike the other side, darkness was what gave birth to this world. And how long it lasted he could no longer be sure.

And then there was water and echoes as the first sea creatures were born and their souls created slippery rooms of dampness and dread. And he learned to breathe...and learned to feel lonely as he thought that he was the only one dwelled in this side of the parallel universe.

Maybe another million year had passed before he met another–in the halls of absolute darkness–just like him, and yet not like him. Another essence, another conscious, another mind. And he learned the definition of 'I' and the differences between 'You' and 'I'.

He would always remembered the day when the soul bubble he–they–took resident in burst and sent both of them falling through the air into a space with such brilliance that he thought he was blind.

It was the first time he saw.

And there, sitting across the outstretched porcelain plane that seemed to go on forever and laughing in a merry tone at their bewilder faces, was another of their kind. A pair of outstretched membrane-wings expanded from the shoulder blades of a slender but firm stature, scales of brilliant vermilion covered the forearms and legs with a light bronze tan upon the skin, and hair of reddish brown with eyes of the richest gold.

He thought it was the most beautiful sight then–and still did so now–as he turned to look at the partner by his side, and he was greeted by a faint smile etched upon a handsome but pale face that had–like him–never seen sunlight and a pair of knowing eyes in a shade of purplish grey half-hidden under blond bangs.

The young man ran a hand through his inky spiked bristle that's tipped with the same mazarine hue like that of his eyes as memories of his distant past sparkled like wonder in his mind. But then the smile faded as more came back to him and he closed his eyes, ignoring the fragile bubbles that drifted in the wind.

Hikari.

The light that gave birth to the other world.

It wasn't until the very first being on the other side ventured from the safety embrace of the eternally dark sea did the first splendor was allowed into this world. It wasn't until then did he know what he himself–and his companion(s)–looked like.

But none of them knew it then that it was the beginning of Chaos, when dark and light finally clashes. And great sorrow and sacrifices would follow.

And it was his entire fault.

The young man opened his eyes again and thought back on the time when they set out to search for others until finally acknowledged the fact that–though creatures also born from the dark were then already plentiful–they were the only sentient beings of this world; and later further realized that also of the two parallel worlds. And they all explored their power as the responsibilities of being the guardians fell onto their shoulders.

But guardians for _what_ they did not know, not until five millennia had past and great disaster occurred.

He remembered the time when he could simply ignore the inner turmoil that had always existed within him, the time when he still lived in total darkness and alone. But he could no longer do so now as he finally confronted the things that he had managed to conceal without his own knowing for so long.

Unlike his prideful blond companion that had always being competitive and had the ability to work stray energy let loose by the dying and the deceased with ease, nor his cheerful brown-haired friend that's always up to the challenge and had the power extract energy from the living and wield as his own. He was the only one that could absorb and contain both form and energy, body and soul.

But nothing was forever and after five millennia of happiness with his two best friends, the things that had stay locked and hidden within him broke free of his control. The parallel worlds were lay to waste as the two ultimate powers clashed. The powers that were known as Yami and Hikari, the very Gods that first created the worlds.

And it wasn't until creatures became so sparse that only few survived did the powers once again withdrew inside his soul to carry on the endless battle. And it was only then did they realize just what they were supposed to guard.

They were the guardians of the spiritual universe, the Gate Keepers that regulated the crossing of souls and spirits between the two worlds, and the wardens that maintain the balance betwixt.

And he himself was the only prisoner.

The young man let out a hollowed laugh at that. It's true that his friends never made to held him captive or lock him down; it's all in his own bloody mind that he wanted to cringe back into the darkness where he was first born, so to spare the others from the chaos that's sure to occur every five millennia–when his control were at his weakest.

But no, it was no use as the light and the dark had already clashed. And all he could do was stay as far away from the others as possible and hope could reduce the damage done.

Sadly, things could only go as planned for so long and the race of dinosaurs were wiped out the very same way as the powers again crossed the Gates when they gone loose.

Those were the things of the past, some more distantly and some in recent decades, and the young man had slowly grown numb to the loss and pain over the forever coming and going of time. He knew how selfish he had become to think this way and secretly he admitted that he only cared about his two best friends...and not the billions of bubbles which meant life that burst every day.

The man stretched and stood up. The light green tunic he wore fluttered in the breeze and the hard leather scabbard that held his great sword–the Sword of Justice–clicked against his boots. This brought him amusement as well as he suddenly thought of the time when none of the trio knew what decency was and were used to just go around naked like all the other creatures that roamed the skies and lands and waters.

There were so many firsts.

Though none of them could remember the details, it didn't matter as long as they were filled with delight and meaning. And even that arrogant blond had to admit.

Like the long stretch of time they spent on trying to come up with a way to communicate with each other and had somehow managed to invent a _language_ between the three of them. Which then leaded to another memory that didn't seem all that long ago.

The young man could almost remember it word by word that time when the delighted brunette ran around like a dunce, coming up with seemingly random sounds as names for just about everything, before the kid suddenly turned around facing the other two and actually asked something constructive.

_"__How 'bout names for ourselves?"_

He remembered being flabbergasted.

_"__If ya asked me, I think I'll go for Helmos!" He wielded a long piece of wood like a sword as overjoyed-spark in those golden orbs showed how happy he was for coming up with the name that would from then on belonged to him and him only._

_"__Why's that, pry tell?" The blond countered with his casual smirk._

_"__Cuze it sounds cool, like me!"_

It was just like him to come up with something then and there.

As it was just like the blond to spend another century perfecting their language and looking for inspiration before one day, out of the blue, uttered a single word under his breath.

_"__Critias."_

It wasn't at all unexpected so the shortest of the three only showed that of polite puzzlement, but Helmos sure was caught off guard.

_"__My name. Critias." The blond repeated again before turning to the last of the trio who was still nameless. "How about yours?"_

_"__Why do you think I've thought of it?"_

_"__Sure you have." The blond said with much confidence as Helmos finished the 'Now tell us!' for him._

For two that seemed to never get along and would always spend half their time bickering, they sure like to continue each other's dialogue. The young man with tricolor hair could easily saw the irony as he closed his eyes and raised his voice to a higher yet softer pitch to repeat the words he had said so long ago.

"My name is Timaeus!"

He dropped his tone an octave then before he reiterated his own words again, but this time in a low murmur.

"My name is Timaeus."

And when he opened his eyes, he could see his two friends standing across the field. Helmos laughing and waving–forever his frivolous self–and Critias with his always sedate expression and too-long white fabric that hang down his dark blue tunic.

They didn't know their names were the beginning of a legend.

–

–

* * *

_As I'm a Chinese I watched the Chinese-dubbed YGO series, so I based the personalities of every character on the Chinese-dubbed version which, I've got to say, is slightly different from the few English-dubbed versions that I've watched.  
I'm not sure what Helmos and Critias were like in the English version but they have a tendency to share a sentence when they speak in the version that I'm more familiar with (which I find amusing what with Joey's and Kaiba's voices). As for Timaeus? He actually had two different voices (both of Yami's and Yugi's) in this version but no, not at the same time. He used Yami's voice throughout the battle with Dartz and it wasn't until they bid farewell on that lone island did he suddenly switched into Yugi's cute voice and said "So long, pharaoh!" in an adorable way that just screams for a hug._

_Anyway! If Helmos and Critias keep splitting sentences into two parts and finishing for each other seems kind of GAY in later chapters, please bear with me as it wasn't my intention. And if Timaeus seems a bit ambiversion talking to himself... ah well, you get the picture I hope._


	2. Game

_disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh or any of its characters._

_Special thx to TimaeusLover96 who encouraged me to continue this story.  
You reminded me of the real reason I started this: to write something that's special if only to myself and so few others. This chapter would not have been up-dated were it not for you. Thank you._

–

_Games were his life, his sanity, the only just in this unfair world.  
But Timaeus wasn't born talented in games, he merely had a lot of time to perfect his skills...since he came to realize he was just another piece on the gaming board._

"Normal Speech."

-Spiritual Speech.-

_A recount of past memories or "things said in the past"._

* * *

_**The Last Five Millennium: **__**The Fall of Atlantis**_

**Game**

It took an eternity before Timaeus begin to understand what the Gods were doing.

_Ghostly shadows swirled at his feet, clinging but never touching__ as his steel-plated boots echoed down the twilight zone that one could see too clearly to be darkness but too ambiguous to be of light._

_And always with one extra footstep whenever he stopped his pace._

He blinked and what greeted him was a vast stretch of nothingness, alone and empty. Lifeless and cold.

Timaeus didn't panic, only will the illusion of a reseda clad dragon knight standing rubbing his eyes in lonesome amid a large expand of lively grassland to return. And as simple as that he found himself in the exact position he imagined, standing, taking in a deep breath of cool evening air.

_He turned and faced him as _he_ turned and face _him_; in the same attire, in the same armor, holding the same sword...only a shade darker and a hue lighter. Confronting a face that's like his double but not, his was softer with a sympathetic smile as his was sharper with a conceited smirk._

_"__Yami." He greeted with tenor as he heard the other echoed._

_"__Hikari." A nod of acknowledgement, and he saw himself doing the same gesture as he answered with a voice closer to baritone._

_Somewhere in the back of his conscious Timaeus knew as he unsheathed his sword–or was it swords?–that he was him. Somewhere in the back of his conscious, Timaeus was screaming._

It was all an illusion.

Being alive.

_Light of the purest clashed with the deepest darkness in the background giving rise to a somewhat deafening roar, leaving long trails of shadow in their wake._

_The same motion of his great blades and the bluish amethyst met the crimson azure._

_"__You can't win." A mischievous singsong echoed as the swords meet, amethyst sparkling and daring. "You're merely an illusion."_

_"__And neither can you." A confident sneer laughed in response, crimson gleaming and challenging. "Because I am, and can also be so much more."_

But the truth was, being a creature of immortality meant not being ever alive.

It was all an illusion of darkness.

_The shadows swirled._

_And growing._

Since when did he start occupying himself with games between his friends' visits, Timaeus could no longer remember.

A self made board of black and grey and white squares, equal number pieces of ebony and ivory.

_"__Do you know," Timaeus seemed to recall a time Critias had asked, long ago. "That the realm of Hikari's is so much darker than ours?"_

_Such a surprise when he first heard._

_"__Light gave birth to all beings in the other realm, but the place between their existing planes–planets–is actually filled with darkness."_

Timaeus was so immersed in his game that he didn't notice his inspectors until they're practically standing over him.

"Long time no see, Aeus!" Helmos exclaimed, radiating energy as he looked over the shorter man's shoulder. "What cha doing?"

_"__So maybe Hikari really means darkness and not light." Helmos had then gleefully continued from his position sprawling on the ground. "And Yami would be light instead of darkness."_

_So like nonsense with such logic but for once Critias agreed with the brunette and he was rarely wrong._

_"__We're born in darkness, but that doesn't mean there's no light here." The blond explained. "And since the place between dimensions will always be bigger than the dimensions themselves, it's safe to assume our realm is actually brighter by a lot more."_

_"__We just rarely get to see it, is all." Helmos shrugged._

_Timaeus recalled questioning their statements. "How do any of you know the so call place between dimensions is filled with light then?"_

"I'm playing a game."

"A game?" Helmos leaned in farther, almost topping over the shorter male. "How do you play it?"

"You sure you want to learn? Since I doubt your poor excuse for a brain can contain so much information as the rules of a game at a time." Critias smirked, never one to waste a chance for a go at the brunette's pride.

"Sure I can!" Helmos protested instantly turned to his blond companion, swinging his fist in a failed-menacing way as he launched an attack, though it too failed miserably as Critias simply waved the assault aside like fending off a bug and dropped the scarlet clad man with a single movement.

_"__We saw, didn't you remember?" Critias lifted an eyebrow at him before tilting his head in Helmos' direction._

_And Timaeus remembered, the first time he saw and the brilliance of the outstretched plane where their __initial meeting took place. That's the space in between and really, it's filled with light._

"Anyway, enough of these talks." Recovered with a matchless speed, Helmos leaped from the place where he'd fallen and shifted his attention back to the game board, expression immediately changed from that of the defeated to one of utmost excitement. "Aeus, can you teach me how to play?"

Timaeus nodded, picking up a piece of ivory and ebony each. "A player can choose between the two colors." He began, smiling softly as Helmos took the ebony while Critias examined an ivory piece.

"The white piece can only be moved once per turn and can only go in the black square or it will be removed from play." There was a questioning look from the blue-clad knight, but Timaeus pointedly ignored and continued. "But at the beginning of every turn, the white player can choose four white squares and change it into black squares."

"How about mine?" Helmos eagerly asked, waving his ebony piece dramatically.

"The player that chooses black can move up to four times per turn and can separate the paces between different pieces–though at the cost of only changing one black square into white at the beginning of each turn–however, the ebony piece can both go in the black and the white square."

"So, can the pieces go in the same square?" Helmos cut him off, putting the piece he took back down.

"Yes and no." Timaeus answered with patience. "Only different colored pieces can go in the same square and by the end of turn, the ivory piece in the shared square would be removed from play."

"Heh, so black always triumph?"

"But," Timaeus paused a sec for effect then said, "if a black piece stayed in the same black square for more than one turn, it is removed from play as well and the square it reside pervious would change into a white square."

"Then I guess the objective of the game would be...?" Critias asked, putting his game piece down as well.

"Turn all remaining opposing-colored squares into your dominate color." Timaeus finished. "Namely, white for the black piece and vice versa."

There was a long silence as Critias thought the rules over with his all too logical mind while Helmos hummed absent-mindedly. Then, with a delicate motion, the taller of the two laid an elegant finger on the gaming board.

"What are these?"

Timaeus hesitated before speaking.

"If an ebony piece stayed in the same black square for less than one turn–say, like trespassing–or if an ivory was forced into a white square to be removed, then the said square or squares will turn grey."

_Shadows always lurked where__ light and darkness had clashed._

_Timaeus looked at him, looked at himself. He knew he couldn't win as _he_ knew _he_ couldn't win._

_Amethyst azure._

_Bluish crimson._

_They knew neither could ever be the victor; They knew both were only hopeless victims._

_Still They just wanted to see the other fall._

_Amethyst frowned._

_Crimson narrowed._

_And the shadows danced and danced._

"And what do they do?" Critias asked.

"Any piece, regardless of color, that stayed on grey squares for more than one turn would be removed from play."

_Never fading, always growing. The shadows danced and danced._

It didn't take Timaeus long to wipe the floor with Helmos on the ten-by-ten squared board with his white pieces but the brunette immediately demanded a rematch, with exchanged color.

Critias didn't say anything during the first game, just seemed to be leering at the grey spaces.

_They could only struggle before shadows consumed all._

_Shadows always won._

The game lasted even shorter with Timaeus holding black, all opposing pieces drowning in a sea of grey. But before he could make his final move, Critias held up his hand.

"What do the square stand for?"

Timaeus looked, puzzled, as the tallest knight point at the last black square.

"Huh?"

"Don't play dumb. You created this game for a reason and I'm pretty sure it wasn't just for fun." The blond almost hissed. "And if the squares and pieces really stand for what I think they do, then this...this is some _sick_ game you play."

The shortest dragon knight visibly winced.

"That's a low blow." Helmos stood up, an uncharacteristic beastly growl sounding deep in his throat.

"Stay out of matters you don't understand." Critias snarled, cape of black and ocher hardened and stretched into wings, fangs elongated and pale pupils narrowed in a reptile-like manner as he turned back to the still sitting knight. The fierce dragon usually hidden underneath the mask of an innocuous warrior suddenly all too visible.

"Then can somebody kindly explain to me." Helmos stated looking between his two companions before stopping expectedly at the shorter, fingers already toughened into claws as he grabbed the hilt of his great sword.

"I..."

Timaeus didn't continue.

_It was just a game to Them and as a consequence to him as well, a game each with billion pieces and even more times of squares._

"They're galaxies the black squares, aren't they?" Critias asked softly after he calmed his dragonish features.

_Every five millennia a turn._

"So tha whites are our dimensions?"

Helmos shuddered.

_A game with no victors._

"You're starting to feel like Them."

"They are _in_ me." Timaeus murmured. "In _Us_."

_Until shadows devoured all._

"Ya think you're above us? Above everything else?"

"No."

_He's looking at himself again._

The pieces were set and this time, Critias took the opposite seat.

_Yami._

_Hikari._

_Darkness._

_Light._

_But the place in between would always be greater._

_And that's where the shadows dwelled._

Critias frowned as he made his last move knowing losing was ineluctable, still though, it's enough to get his point across. "You know this will be the unavoidable end. Do you not?"

Timaeus looked at the board and buried his face in his hands.

_He knew._

_They knew._

_Just helpless to stop the inevitable._

One square of black.

Ninety-nine squares of grey, of shadows.

_Because shadows always won._

_–_

_–_

* * *

_It's getting confusing, but I'm trying to see thing from Timaeus' POV and he's kind of a messed-up character that's aready half split yet not.  
A small change: I'm expanding their gaming board from Earth to the whole Universe, interested? I hope so. And thx all for reading cuze I know how few people are interested in the knights._


	3. First Lights

_disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh or any of its characters._

_It all started with a game and a child that cared. Good intentions didn't always lead to good deeds but sometimes, the most devastating destruction. True darkness only existed with the brightest light, and true evil might just be the result of one with an innocence too pure._

"Normal Speech."

-Spiritual Speech.-

_A recount of past memories or "things said in the past"._

* * *

_**The Last Five Millennium: **__**The Fall of Atlantis**_

**First Lights**

"Are you crying?"

Timaeus started as he sat up from his napping position and was surprised to see two children–one under the type of warriors and another maybe of the spellcasters he would first guess–holding hands and standing questioningly before him. One dressed in midnight-blue light armor and half-hidden his pale face under a heavy metallic headgear, a gash mark could be seen under the single eye that's peering sheepishly from that messy greenish hair of his as he tried without success to cringe behind the broad sword he wield. Another–

Timaeus believed his thoughts deserted him for a moment.

A child with skin the hue of the purest marble perfected with a pink tinge upon his cheeks and eyes that strongly reminded him of his jovial friend that sparked with a merry gold. Faint jadeite-colored locks fell gently onto slender shoulders with spotless white robe concealing a gentle feminine but confident stature.

The child was truly beautiful.

"Par–" Timaeus coughed. "Pardon?"

An inquiring blink and a tilt of head to the side.

"Why are you crying?"

The beautiful child asked again, his voice rang like melody.

The older warrior pushed himself upright, just about eyelevel with the child. "I'm not crying."

There's a slight disbelief in those wondrous golden orbs as the child narrowed his eyes and suddenly held up a hand, brushing the dragon knight's cheek with fingertips as if confirming the absence of tears.

Timaeus was silent as he watched the queer act of the child. It's been centuries since anyone last touched him and secretly, he thought the fingers oddly warm.

_"__He's doomed the moment you smiled at him."_

Timaeus suddenly winced at the words of his cold-eyed friend but the beautiful child didn't seem to notice as he withdrew his hand. "You're not crying on the outside." He said knowingly, holding his small hand over his cloth-covered chest, over his rhythmic pounding heart. "But here you're hurt and crying."

Now Timaeus really was surprised and kind of curious, though none of that showed on his calm features.

"How do you figure?"

The child hesitated, suddenly all self-conscious as his grasp on the other shyer child tightened by a fraction. "I can hear sometimes," he answered slowly like trying to answer a difficult question that's a bit above his level, "when people are in pain...or crying."

"Hmm..." The man was at a loss for word. He was out of practice with any form of communication since it's been a long time he last interacted with anyone other than himself and his two friends…heck it's been a long time he talked to neither of his friend as well, since both of them seemed to be awfully busy with who-know-what during the recent millennia.

But he never resented.

They all know the reason.

_"__Why?"_

_Timaeus looked at Critias with tear-stained eyes, the once glistening rainbow chips of Five Star Twilight dulling in his hands until they turned into nothing but cold hard stone moments before crumbling in the wind._

_"__I thought we're supposed to be immortal!"_

_An accusation._

_Meaningless._

_Desperate._

_Helmos sighed. "We are." Tired, frowning, the only offer a friend can give._

_"__Then WHY?"_

_A need to know._

_A fear for knowing._

_Two pairs of avoiding eyes._

_One truth echoed into nothingness._

_"__Only mortal against light at the purest."_

_And Timaeus felt his heart wrecked._

"Are you okay?"

The dragon knight snapped back to where he was, realizing he'd been staring. "Uh, no, I mean...yes, I'm fine."

Such a lie.

"I was just wondering," a deep breath, trying to stop the memories that seemed so much like warnings, "isn't it kind of heavy, knowing when people are in pain?"

"Sometimes." The child replied like he was singing. "But I don't mind."

A flicker of resolute behind those eyes.

"I consider it a blessing if it can help my people."

My people. So much responsibility in such simple words, so much weighed on the shoulder of one so little.

_The first dared to stand against the Gods._

_Tearing himself apart to buy time for others. A feat based on self-sacrifice._

"Are you really sure you're okay?"

Timaeus couldn't lie again. His own voice seemed to suffocate him.

_Trillions of __duplicates. An illusion of rainbow dome created._

"I...I'm..."

_The first dared to stand against the Gods._

_And the first to perish because of it._

"It's just that..."

_Numerous saved. At a cost of one._

_An explosion that shook dimensions and worlds alike._

"Do you want to play a game?"

A query.

Right out of the blue.

"Wh-what?" Timaeus gawped, incredulously, at the child in front of him. "Why?"

"You're upset." The golden-eyed child answered cheerfully, offering up various sort of polished shells as the other kid slowly dragged his broad sword across the moist earth to make a small gaming zone. "I always play games when I'm upset. It cheers me up."

_"__Do you want to play a game?"_

_Timaeus looked at the fanged ultramarine furball that's eyeing him suspiciously with slanted violet eyes as he offered a friendly smile._

_The small fiend decided he wasn't a threat after hopping around a bit._

The child widened his eyes when he was forced to surrender the last of his shell, for once looked as naïve as his small frame suggested, declaring the challenger of the game as the winner.

"How did you do that?"

"Do what?"

The child sitting cross-legged before the knight leaned in, forthrightly holding up the shell with delicate swirls. "This." He emphasized waving the shell. "It's a long time since I last been beaten by anyone other than my _benno_. And it's your first time playing! How did you do it?"

Timaeus didn't miss the word he didn't recognize, but he only waved it off as trivial and smiled.

Then the jasper-haired kid that had previously content with hiding behind his friend suddenly stretched out his white-gloved hand and picked up one of the scattered shells. A questioning look was first directed at his partner before turning to look at their bigger playmate. The lighter-haired child soon caught on and mouthed the playful dare at their azure-eyed opponent. "Two against one?"

"Of course."

_It's a nice change having someone to talk to, even if the said someone couldn't do much more than hopping and purring while making something of a 'kuri'ing sound._

_And Timaeus no longer needed to entertain himself with various self-created puzzles and board games. Instead, he's more than happy just to race mindlessly across the greenery of Sogen after his new companion or a simple hide-and-seek in the barren lands of Canyon._

"See? I'm right!" The child that did all the talking suddenly said half-way through the game, face all lit up making the dragon knight immediately wary of the possibility of him accidently stepping on the traps the two children might've laid. But then he noted how the children weren't looking at anywhere in the gaming zone but at him.

"What?"

Both children grinned.

"You're not upset anymore."

_It's like being back to the time when he and his fellow dragon knights could laugh freely and without a care in the world. It's like being back to the time before Critias and Helmos become true Gate Keepers and before him realizing himself being the only Holder of the Gods._

_It's a nice change having friends again._

The beautiful child tilted his head questioningly when Timaeus suddenly stretched out a hand to ruffle his jadeite-colored hair; the same inquisitiveness mirrored in the single eye that's peering from under the heavy headgear of the kid swordsman.

"You remind me of someone."

"Someone?"

"Yes." Timaeus said softly. "Someone dear."

"A friend?"

An astute observation for one so innocent in looks but, though startled, the dragon knight nodded anyways.

"What's you're friend's name?" The child continue to ask, genuinely curious.

A short silence followed. A silence that seemed to pain.

_"__What's your name?"_

_Timaeus asked but then had to suppress his laughter as the blue furball wobble his single horn and opened his mouth to say the only word he knew._

"Was."

Timaeus whispered, and both children widened their eyes in comprehension.

"_Kuri-bah-oh."_

_The small fiend growl-yelped but then frowned cutely in dissatisfaction._

_"__Don't strain yourself." Timaeus laughed._

_But the blue furry fiend only huffed, wanting to try again._

_"__Kuri-bah-bli-oun."_

"His name...was...Kuribabylon."

_"__He could've escaped!"_

_"__He'd made his own choice."_

_"__Choice?" Timaeus practically shrieked at the calmness of the blond man. "It was supposed to be our responsibility! He didn't know, didn't deserve any of it!"_

_"__Can you hear yourself?" Helmos hissed sharply, seizing the front of the reseda knight's cape to force eye contact. "Sometimes, you just have to let it go!"_

_"__What do you know? It's not like you've ever lost someone precious!"_

_A look of shock, of anger._

_An abrupt impulse._

_A sudden pain._

_And Timaeus stared, speechless and bewildered, from where he'd been beaten to the ground._

_"__Stop it, Helmos."_

_Critias growled in warning, but Helmos paid no heed._

_"__What do I know? What do I KNOW?"_

_"__Helmos!"_

_"__We're not like you, Timaeus!" The red knight screamed, ignoring the mazarine knight who's trying to hold him back. "Critias and I, we're not like you!_

_"__We don't go isolate ourselves because we're scared! We actually go out and spent time trying to know the others!_

_"__And those you murdered all those times because you're too pathetic to control yourself? Well, we actually know them! Every one of them! So don't you dare telling me what I know and what I don't–"_

"I'm sorry for your loss."

The child laid a small hand on the grieving man's forearm, soothing.

And Timaeus felt the old wound torn and his throat dry, eyes set and far away, always knowing who really was to blame.

_"__STOP!"_

_A dragonish roar escaped Critias' lips and vibrated through the dimensions, at last ceasing Helmos' sharp ranting and snapping Timaues out of his horror-struck trance._

_"__Get a grip of yourselves, the both of you." Critias demanded, leaving no room for retaliations. And that's when the two other knights finally noticed the small furred creature at his feet._

_"__Babylon...?" Timaeus croaked._

_But no, he wasn't._

_Tiny greenish claws, soft brownish fur, wide purple _teary _eyes._

_Just what's left of a fractured soul._

"Don't be."

The dragon knight answered softly.

Don't be sorry as he had.

_And Timaeus turned and ran, surrendering himself to the curse he would forever bear. Unable to look back._

_"__I'm so sorry."_

"Here, take this."

The beautiful child held up his little hand in offering.

A small pointed shell of aquamarine. A faint golden hue sparkled in the light.

"I have to go now." He said. "But maybe...we can be friends?"

_Blue furry mess bumped into him before racing away on tiny skeletal claws._

_"__Hey! Come back here!"_

Timaeus couldn't take it.

Couldn't take the gift. Couldn't accept the friendship it stood for.

_Though drenched in the constant drizzle of the Wetlands, he could still laugh...with Kuribabylon safe and dry and purring under his outstretched wings._

"Please."

So hopeful those big golden eyes.

_He could never understand how those violet eyes can be so innocent and hopeful. And Timaeus could basically felt his will crumble as he surrendered the blue beans and twin leaves he found that's __Goblin's Secret Remedy._

_Then the fiend 'kuri'ed happily._

_And Timaeus thought it worth more than everything._

"Fine." A sigh as Timaeus accepted the pointed shell. "But we cannot be friends."

And just like that, the children's faces fell. Utmost depression visible.

_"__It's too dangerous."_

_Violet eyes dropped, disappointed._

_"__Okay...okay, listen here." Timaeus shook his head, giving up. "I'll go with you, but you have to promise me you'll stay very close. Mystic Plasma Zone is no laughing matter."_

"I can give you a return gift to remember me by."

It all reminded Timaeus too much of who he'd lost and the possible drastic consequence if he acquainted with others. But still he couldn't force himself to be as cold-hearted as to ignore innocents' silent plead.

"But we can't ever meet again."

The child held back tears as he nodded, jadeite locks loosened in the wind.

_"__Run!"_

_Timaeus screamed, hoarse, but Kuribabylon only stood and looked and looked._

_Didn't heed the warning to leave his friend._

_Didn't escape as all sanity gone out of those too blue eyes._

_Kuribabylon stayed until the shadows gathered and demanded to the Divine Gods the release of his friend._

A swish of purple brilliance and Magical Stone Excavation was activated, bringing forth a unique spell.

"It's yours."

The two children both looked cautiously before each holding out a hand. Then there's a blinding flash of verdure light.

_Timaeus still kept with him the flute that Kuribabylon had given to him so long ago._

A polished green stone gleamed.

A mark of oblique hexagram formed.

And the child shared a look with his partner before watching in awe at the softly throbbing treasure that now glowed in his small palms.

"I'll cherish it till the end of my time."

Timaeus nodded, holding the pointed shell tight.

"As will I."

_He just wasn't brave enough to play the summoning song again only to let the empty melody echo, knowing that nobody was there to answer._

_He just wasn't brave enough._

"What's your name?"

The last question before the two children's departure.

"I'm Timaeus, Dragon Knight of Justice."

The children smiled.

Both so innocent.

So pure.

_But Timaeus never saw how Kuriboh tried to follow him after he turned tail and ran, still wanting to be his friend._

"He's my Spirit, Silent Swordsman." The beautiful child, now holding hands with the shy jasper-haired kid, introduced. "And I'm Dartz."

_It's all a game the Gods played._

And they all thought they would never cross paths again. Thought it was their first and last farewell.

Never knowing the Seal of Orichalcos wasn't a blessing...but a curse.

Until way too late.

–

–

* * *

_*Benno–the Atlantean word for father.  
Since Monsters don't reproduce as actual beings do, their language don't include any parental words. The reason why Timaeus and Dartz can even communicate without problem will be explained in the next chapter._

_*The flute–The Flute of Summoning Kuriboh.  
(First appear in the movie "Bonds Beyond Time".)_

_*The Spirit–the Ba and/or Ib.  
(You can also check on my profile for more information on the Background settings.)_

–

_The anime episodes only explain why Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl came to become Yugi's servants, I wrote this trilogy in hopes of explaining about a few noted others._


	4. Only Chance

_disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh or any of its characters._

_Why did Jonouchi always gamble? Trying his luck? Not really...but maybe for redemption.  
It wasn't a mistake, just a risk not taken eons ago and a game of chance not played. From then there existed an invisible weight on the shoulders of one dragon knight and for millenia to come, he felt at fault for those who perished that day._

"Normal Speech."

-Spiritual Speech.-

_A recount of past memories or "things said in the past"._

* * *

_**The Last Five Millennium: **__**The Fall of Atlantis**_

**Only Chance**

_"__Timaeus?"_

_"__No, I am not."_

_"__Then who _are_ you?"_

_Tiny hands cuddled the doll-like wooden figurine, golden eyes staring curiously at the crimson orbs of the reseda-armored man standing just outside his door._

_"__I've been called many things throughout the Myriads, but it really matters not what others chose to name Me." The-man-who-was-not answered. "You can simply know Me as a wanderer that enjoys games."_

_"__Games?"_

_"__Yes."_

_"__I like games."_

_"__Would you like to play a game with Me then?"_

_"__Sure."_

_The fine crystal __adorned door swung silently open, illuminating the dark hallway outside in a warm welcoming glow._

_"__Come on in."_

A young man–judged to be in the late teens by look, with pale features and sharp purplish grey eyes–garbed in the finest mazarine linen with traces of silver décor sat hunched up, rapidly taking notes on what he'd been reading and occasionally crossed out what he'd just wrote before scripting something else in place. One would never have guess that, under the delicate tunic and long robes, the 'young' savant was clad from head to toe in armor finishing with an arm-and-a-half-long sword.

But right now, Critias wasn't frowning because he was worried about being snuck up on by a swarm of Howling Insects or felt the need to fend himself against various types of dragons that seemed to be drawn to him for some odd reasons, he's frowning because he seemed to be making no progress for the pass twenty hours.

He squinted in the dim candlelight, frustrated though only showed by a thin crease upon his brow, before blotting out the last sentence he'd wrote on the parchment with an eagle feather quill and start over. But, still unsatisfied after the fiftieth try, he burned the damn thing with a soft breath sending an incinerated smell drifting through the musty study.

A soft cough sounded from the doorway, causing the blond knight to look up from his loaded work.

"King Ironheart." Critias greeted formally, causing the man in noble silk to laugh as he stroke his dark chest-length beard before shaking his head at the remark.

"No, no, Critias. Compared to _you_ who's my mentor and had once tutored my father and his before him, I'm not a king...just an average man." The king of Atlantis said smiling warmly. "An average man humble in front of a deity who not only taught us the way to civilization but also watched over the land of Atlantis for over two millennia."

"You're too kind, your majesty." The dragon knight replied, civilly standing up at the presence of one with status. "Immortality comes with a price and wisdom comes with age, but divinity? One has to _be_ to begin with. So I am not, as I serve the same Gods as you do."

"Of course, of course." King Ironheart chuckled, absentmindedly thumbing the sapphire ring he wore before changing the subject. "I'm not here for anything official, Critias, just that I've never get the chance to thank you for finding my mischievous son a while back. He means a lot to me, and possibly more so to all of Atlantis."

"There's no need to, your majesty, I'm only doing my job," Critias answered, looking sideways at the piles of books on the mahogany desk, "as I am now."

"No progress?"

"You know full-well the words for my language consisted of not only totems and symbols but also of images and thoughts, it's near impossible to hope for an exact translation. No matter how many consonants and vowels we share." Critias stated, a finger tracing the scarlet-covered Book of Eclipse that he'd been trying to copy into a different script.

"You've already successfully translated a few thousand of your books, I'm sure you'll do just fine this time as well."

"You flattered me."

The two men's conversation was interrupted, however, when a deliberate heavy knock sounded on the side of the opened wooden door.

"Hope I ain't intruding."

Golden irises twinkled, Helmos stood with a casual simper with his scarlet armor gleaming in the weak flickering flame and long bicolor cloak swaying at his heels.

Critias made a careless grunt that sounded remotely like 'as always' as the brunette strolled into the study like he own the place and draped an arm over the Atlantean King–who was by about a head shorter.

"King Ironheart." Helmos greeted waving his hand casually and without any form of proper courtesy.

"Helmos, fancy meeting you here." The King returned the greetings, but of course with a tad more authority and much more grace. "I thought you're away for the time for..._diplomatic_ reasons."

"Oh, I was." Helmos answered, retrieving his hand from the other man's shoulder before running his fingers through his brownish hair. "But since Swordsman's been oddly cooperative this time around, I've got to leave earlier."

"Then," King Ironheart said slowly, "can I assume I'll be meeting this _imaginary_ friend of my son's in due time?"

Helmos narrowed his eyes slightly before shaking his head. "Nay, don't bet on it."

"As we only work on keeping our people separated." Critias continued from where he stood. "We don't encourage any form of interaction–"

"–unless absolutely necessary." Helmos finished.

"I see." The King frowned. "Is it why I still don't get to know this person's name even after so long a time?"

An embarrassing silence followed this question. Before it was broken by Helmos' frank laughter and Critias' amusing chuckle.

"No, no!" Helmos gasped. "It's not like that!"

"The reason we never say his name is because he has none."

"We all have titles, like we're Dragon Knights."

"But in truth, very few of us even bother giving ourselves a Ren, an actual name."

"It's not too odd, since I doubt the wild birds or lives stock here has any–"

"Ahem." King Ironheart cut off the knights with a light cough. No matter how many times this happened, it still got kind of confusing listening to the two men at the same time. "So I think I'll have to compromise and be glad that I won't wake up one day to find monsters roaming my back yard?"

Critias didn't miss the questioning at the end but deliberately pretended to not notice. "We can assure you that none under our surveillance will actively seek for ways to cross into your domain."

"Excellent!"

"But," the brunet knight continued, again not heeding much for manners, "your little prince, Dartz, is a very gifted young lad that's not under our supervision."

"And he happens to possess abilities much like ours; abilities that can cause breaches to appear between the realms." Critias lowered his voice then. "We advise it is better for him to refrain from using that power."

"You know you have no authority to command my son."

"We acknowledge." The blond knight answered, glaring at his companion out of the corner of his eyes to shut the man up. "So we never told him anything, _including_ that the place he so happened to accidentally visit mere weeks ago were not of this realm."

"Vow to me that you will keep your silence."

"You know I never lie." Critias met the shorter man's gaze without shrinking. "But as a Prince, it's his right to know and he _will_. Sooner or later."

"Okay, enough of these big talks." Helmos suddenly said, already growing way too uncomfortable and obvious wanting a change of subject. "It's been a long travel and I've been hoping ta find some peace here. Do you two mind?"

King Ironheart lifted an eyebrow. Like a father that's starting to feel impatient about a son's childish behavior.

"Seriously, what's goin–eep!" Helmos suddenly yelped as the gloved hand of Critias' appeared out of nowhere and smacked him hard, a flare of deep scarlet and rotten skin of dark spirit swirled indicating the activation of the robed knight's trapping ability, temporarily leaving the brunette without voice.

-What do you do that for?- Helmos protested through thoughts, but was pointedly ignored by the Wisdom Knight who instead, was looking at the King.

"Excuse my friend, your majesty. He's just a little exhausted."

"Very well, I'll be taking my leave now." King Ironheart said shortly, turning. "A good day to you."

"A good day to you, too, your majesty. And send my regards to Queen Maona."

Critias bowed, Atlantean styled, after the departing king and didn't look up until the soft footfalls of indoor shoes disappeared behind the heavy wooden door. And by the time he returned to his previous sitting position at the desk to resume his translation work, Helmos was eyeing him in mock-horror.

-What was that for?-

"What?"

-Ya know, bowing.-

"It's called manners, Helmos." Critias replied nonchalantly. "Castes are unique in this realm and, though it may has its drawbacks, it also has its uses, for I believe that's why their civilizations grew rapidly in short spans of times as decades or even years while ours need millennia to stabilize.

"And besides, since we're currently here, we may as well follow their practices."

-But we ain't no Atlantean.-

"_If_," The blond knight continued sharply, "not for the sake of blending in, then for the sake of avoiding trouble."

Helmos frowned, in a way that distinctly reminded the other man of some certain four-legged creatures of this realm that seemed to be happily curious about all that's around. Namely, hounds. -I still don't like it.- He said like it's the best comeback he could think of, which it probably was. -If I had to bow to every king I met, I wouldn't be able to make it to Castle of Dark Illusions' front hall without permanently twisting my waist.-

"It would be doing me a favor then."

-What does that mean?-

Critias only smirked to himself.

-I think you're making fun of me.-

"So I am."

-Wiseacre.-

"I'll take that as a compliment."

By then Helmos was fuming, but having come up with nothing to say, he turned his frustration to one of the opened books on the hard wooden desk–the one his frenemy had been translating.

"We fall before Thee, on our trembling knees." Helmos read, out loud since his voice having finally returned. "Dragons we see spread their majestic wings, a breath, and we await the Divine Serpents to devour our Sols, our souls."

_Wings, not dragonish but fledged with all the brilliance of light and purer than all the faeries combine, spread so wide like they could stretch and cover the whole dimension under their protection._

"In Thy grace we bath, solemnly we embrace death."

_"__You're afraid."_

_Voice of utmost sincere rang sweeter than Horn of Heaven and as–if not more–deadly, soft cherubic violet eyes, guileless and innocent, looked at him worryingly as the God of Light raised a gentle hand to touch his tear-stained face._

_Helmos cringed, thinking–almost knowing–it was his end._

"For Thee, our savior."

_"__There's no need to be afraid. I'm not going to harm you."_

_Helmos closed his eyes, not wanting to see what's become of the place he'd once call home. There's no need indeed...since there's nothing left._

_"__Hypocrite."_

_Just a large expanse of nothing._

_Only white._

"Our guidance."

_Darkness destroys._

_Leaving behind deaths and pains and hatred and endless struggles._

"Our creator."

_Light just came._

_And left nothing else, saved memory._

"Who wrote this crap anyway?"

"Donnler Hu Filice, a gifted poet from the planet of Irezza, minutes before apocalypse started. The piece and many others were recorded by his grandson Donnler Kei RaTheill and remembered by–"

"I wasn't asking, Critias." Helmos suddenly snapped, causing the robed knight to look up in mild impatience.

"What is it with you?"

Helmos didn't answer immediately, just crossed his arms and leaned against the desk.

"It'll do a whole lot of help bottling up."

"Geez, Critias, like you're the one ta talk."

"So what was it?"

"Jus' that..." Helmos hesitated, unsure of how to continue. "Have you ever meet Hikari face-to-face?"

"I'll have to don't I? Hikari being in permanent time-share with Timaeus."

"You know that's not what I mean." The red knight pointedly glared. "I mean the times when Aeus managed to suppress only one of Them and the other got out. Have you ever meet Hikari in an occasion like that?"

Critias finally stopped his work to look at the Renewal Knight. "I've met Yami." He began slowly. "Being one of His creations, He wasn't..._unkind_ to me. Nor was He to others of our kind as far as I know."

Our kind.

The words tasted bitter.

"But Hikari? Never." Critias said, slightly biting his tone before intertwining his fingers together in a business-like fashion. "Why? Have you?"

Helmos' silence was answer enough.

"Then I'm...surprised you're still here." Critias know the reply was somewhat lame, he just wasn't sure what to offer at the moment. But then he felt a thought rippled in the room, a thought that he was sure wasn't his.

-Hikari scares me.-

_"__Are you afraid I'm going to make you disappear, too?"_

_"__Well, don't be."_

_"__You're not something that's stolen from Me; you're not like them, any of them."_

_"You're unique."_

_"See, Yami only ever created three beings and all others were in fact makings stolen from Me. That's why I wanted them back."_

_"__You and Critias and of course, the darker part of the one who cages Me."_

_"__Unique, hmm?"_

"What did He do to you?"

"Nothing." Helmos closed his eyes. "Nothing just...wanted to play a game."

_"Do you want to play a game?"_

_"__I can see that you cares for them so if you win, I'll bring them all back."_

"A game?"

Helmos could felt the disbelief in the other knight's words.

"Why?"

"Host."

"Excuse me?"

"He wanted a _host_." Helmos whispered, his golden eyes–now opened–were looking at the sitting knight with a kind of lost desperation. "So He could escape from His cage."

_"__But if I win, you'll have to let Me in."_

"Because we're the only ones created by Yami."

It wasn't a question, which struck Helmos as odd. "You know something I don't?"

"I'm just good at putting two and two together, and I've always know the deepest darkness attracts the purest light." Critias shrugged like it was no big deal. "So it's either you or me, I take it?"

"Hmm."

"Well, I know you never are the smart type to begin with, but do tell me you wasn't actually dumb enough to agree to His terms." The blond knight shook his head thoughtfully. "Hikari's got to be as good as Timaeus in games and you know _you_ never triumph. Not against him, then nor will it against Him."

"I know it's not possible for me to win in an ordinary game...but it's not like that."

"What then?"

_"I can see it in your eyes. You don't think it fair, being no strategist and without nearly as much experience as Myself. You don't think there's any way you can possibly prevail."_

_"But it's okay, as I enjoy all kinds of games...and there's this particular type I believe you'll find enjoying as well."_

_"__A game with no mind-plays, no __tactics, no strategy. Only chance."_

"He offered a game of Gamble." Helmos felt his legs go weak at the thought and he collapsed beside the desk. "I've got as much chance to win as He did, and as much chance to lose."

_A coin flashed._

_One side the deepest darkness, the other the purest light._

"Would you take it, Critias?"

Would you place your spirit in line and gamble for the ones you held dear?

The mazarine knight said nothing.

_"No...I can't. I CAN'T!"_

_"Such a pity." Hikari said smiling sadly, clear violet eyes downcast and genuinely disappointed as He removed the hand that'd been laid gently over the cool metal, revealing the concealed coin._

_The dancing dark glow seemed to be mocking._

_"__You could have won."_

Was it his fault? Was it because of his cowardice that they perished?

Helmos had been thinking about it for Myriads to come. He still didn't know the answer.

"Snap out of it." Critias said, not liking the faraway look on the other knight's face. "Dejection doesn't suit you at all."

"But if I had–"

"You wouldn't know, would you?"

The scarlet knight's lack of response caused Critias to sigh deeply. Then so suddenly and in one single swift movement, the robed knight swept the desk clean of all paperwork–more of disappointment than of frustration–before producing an exquisite eight-sided throwing dice that's embellished with sapphire and ruby.

"Wha...?"

"Let's play a game then." Critias said, holding up the twin-colored craft. "Blue I win, red you do."

Helmos took one look at the dice and lowered his gaze, his heart felt almost painful drumming in his chest.

"No." He said weakly. "No...just no."

"Roll the dice." Critias hissed, forcing the dice into the other man's hand. "Because the Helmos I know isn't a coward." Cold grey eyes softened, but still held steady onto the faded primrose with utmost confidence.

"Because the Helmos I know...makes his own future."

The hold on the dice tightened and Helmos felt his knuckles turn white.

–

Just outside the door a lone child stood. Jadeite locks concealing most of his angelic features as he leaned against the door, a beryl amulet hung innocently about his thin pale neck, resting–almost peacefully–against chaste white linen that's covering his gently heaving chest.

Nobody's there to notice a speck of scarlet bleeding into the richest gold.

The deepest darkness might attract the purest light...but it so happened to apply the other way around.

As there's more than one host suitable for Hikari, so was there for Yami.

And the God of Darkness had just found His key.

–

–

* * *

_*Myriad–ten thousand years._

_*The trap that Critias used to shut Helmos up was Dark Spirit of the Silent._

–

_Though the main focus of this trilogy would be about Timaeus and his reincarnations, other characters wouldn't be left out. This chapter was written in hopes of making Jonouchi (and hereby Helmos) a deeper figure than just an average comic-relief and as I've never read any story connecting the reincarnated blond's gambling habits with the dragon knight in any way, I thought of trying to do it myself to see how it'll turn out._

_Finally, thx to the few who read this story. It's all I have to continue, knowing somebody out there enjoys this as much as I do._


End file.
